8: How mindfulness and yoga can decrease anxiety or depression in teen girls

Welcome! My guest today is Dr. Melissa Dettore who is a psychologist and yoga instructor. She is  located in Philadelphia, PA. Melissa offers a variety of workshops for adults and teens wanting to manage their anxiety or depression symptoms using yoga and mindfulness in her practice. She explains how mindfulness can change the brain and help in managing stressors in life. I have done yoga on and off for years and love how it allows for each person to focus on their breathing, become more aware of their body and moving into a pose. I find it to be a great way to do moving meditation. I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I did with Melissa. I think yoga and mindfulness can not only benefit teen girls, but support parents as well.  In this episode you will learn: Melissa has been doing yoga and mindfulness for years Melissa shares a personal experience of how mindfulness and her yoga practice helped her through cancer treatment. Yoga and mindfulness have the following benefits: Reduce stress Reduce anxiety and depression Create new connections in the brain Facts about yoga to address concerns: Any body type can do yoga Can go at your own pace Do not have to have specific outfit to do yoga We all have fears Listen to your own body, creating a mind/body connection Yoga can help parents role model to daughters about practicing mindfulness regarding our own judgements and expectations and letting them go Basic Foundations of mindfulness Awareness Being in present moment Non-judgment and letting go of judgments Beginners mind-looking at everything through new set of eyes and staying curious For teen girls-gaining skills around awareness, non-judging and acceptance are important Some of mindfulness and yoga practices are based in Buddhist philosophy Girls who struggle with “anxiety aren’t in present moment and worried about the future.If feeling depressed they are stuck in the past. Mindfulness they can begin to bring awareness back to here and now.” Mindfulness can help lower breathing rate, feel more calm, and can use these techniques before a test to reduce stress level or do some yoga stretches in the morning. Mindfulness “is like strength training-you want to build the mind muscles up.” During meditation it is normal for your mind to wonder and have thoughts notice them and bring yourself back to breathing Thoughts are like clouds in the sky, just let them pass by.   If you liked this episode I invite you to subscribe on iTunes to receive the weekly updates. This podcast is also available on Stitcher and Google Play.  Melissa’s information: http://drdettore.com   Book Recommendations: The Mindful Teen by Dr. Dzung Vo A Still Quiet Place: Mindfulness for Teens by Amy Saltzman, MD Jon Kabat-Zinn’s books Yoga journal and http://www.yogajournal.com/?s=teen for videos